Last summer the Coalition for Police Reform released a report that confirmed what black ministers have preached about for decades: police misconduct is a real issue in Rochester, New York. While the report shares the horrific experiences of men and women like Benny Warr, Robinn Turner, Hayden Blackman, Russell Davis, Kerry Coleman, Lawrence, Rogers Lentorya […]
How could this happen here? Is it 2017 or the 1960’s? These questions have been asked numerous times since hundreds of white nationalists armed with torches and weapons clashed with counterdemonstrators in Charlottesville, VA. But while the nation expresses shock, bewilderment, and disbelief at the president’s defense of white nationalists and the events in Charlottesville, […]
On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States of America. Since that time black communities around the world have experienced an unpredictable cluster of raw emotions such as anxiety, anger, bewilderment, sadness, despair, and helplessness. Of course, these emotions are not unfounded. Because Mr. Trump has […]
Black History is More than Slavery By the Reverend James C. Simmons, Pastor of Baber A.M.E. Church and Chairman of Rise Up Rochester, Inc. On February 2, 2016, the United Postal Service released a stamp of one of our nation’s often forgotten founders, Bishop Richard Allen. Born a slave on February 14, 1760, Allen purchased […]